The Fields of Yesterday

"The Fields of Yesterday" is about the life of Alfred Duncan. It begins in a small Arkansas town in 1929 and in a chronological manner follows his life for over seven decades. Several things set his life apart and makes it interesting. They are related to the gifts and abilities that he was blessed with and how he has used them. The hardships of the 1930s and somewhat into the mid 1940s had a profound effect on shaping him into the man he became. He had a strong work ethic and did not expect anything from life that he had not earned in some way. The concept of an "entitlement" was totally foreign to him and for the most part, those of his generation as well. His friends and the games they played give an interesting insight into what children used to do with their idle time. His work and actual employment when still a child also gives good insight into how things were with many families in the 1930s and 1940s. Being a "shoe-shine boy" gave him some insight into human nature as well as did being a newspaper delivery boy. Even though he did not realize it at the time, those things were teaching him good business practices, organization and administration. All that would be of great value to him in the years to come. His time in the United States Navy in 1948 - 1952 continued his preparation for life in a much different manner. One specific skill in the area of woodworking was especially honed as he served as one of only fifty Patternmakers in the entire United States Navy. His travels into waters off Europe, North Africa and western Asia gave him exposures to other cultures as he visited small towns and large cities in those areas of the world. Our nations economic difficulties in the early and mid 1950s was in the mix for making decisions that involved marriage, family, moving and putting down roots. That was expected to turn out as a typical "American dream," meaning a home, a good job and a secure future. Several things contributed to that dream becoming a reality-n